Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, “says a hearing set for Tuesday with former acting Attorney General Sally Yates — which was canceled by Republicans — would have featured explosive testimony on Michael Flynn’s efforts to ‘cover up’ his conversations with Russia’s ambassador,” Politico reports.
GOP Leaders Say Obamacare Repeal Is Back on Agenda
“House Republican leaders and the White House, under extreme pressure from conservative activists, have restarted negotiations on legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, with House leaders declaring that Democrats were celebrating the law’s survival prematurely,” the New York Times reports.
Said Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI): “We’re not going to retrench into our corners or put up dividing lines.”
David Nather: “Their comments confirmed that this is mostly an exercise in showing their supporters that they’re not giving up — and maybe giving conservative or moderate holdouts some time to reconsider their position.”
Why Democrats Might Want Nunes to Stay Put
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House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) is in the middle of a firestorm he created in what appears to be a clumsy attempt to shield President Trump from his own committee’s investigation of Russian influence on the Trump campaign.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) excoriated Nunes in an AP article:
“What Congressman Nunes did made it clear that we need a special prosecutor, we need an independent commission… Whatever credibility he and his House committee might have had he burned in a giant bonfire on the front lawn of the White House when he ran over to leak to Donald Trump what was going on in that investigation.”
The committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), called for Nunes to recuse himself from the investigation.
But as Warren, Schiff and Democratic leaders know, it might be best to actually keep Nunes right where he is. Calling for his resignation is often the best way to get a politician to stay put.
That said, the smoke around Nunes has quickly turned to fire. He was a member of the Trump transition team that is at least partially under investigation by his own committee and he admitted that he shared secret information with the White House and not with others on his committee. The longer Nunes remains in place, the easier it is to brand any GOP investigation a cover up.
However, if Nunes is forced to recuse himself, the Republican in charge of the investigation would likely by Rep. Michael Conway (R-TX), who could still protect the president without having the same conflicts as Nunes.
The real goal for Democrats is not sidelining Nunes, it’s the formation of an independent commission to investigate the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. That case is much stronger the longer Nunes continues to lead the investigation.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“The problem that he’s created is he’s gone off on a lark by himself, sort of an Inspector Clouseau investigation.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by Politico, on House Intelligence Committe Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA).
Tax Reform Will Be a Nightmare
The Atlantic: “America’s health-care industry is roughly one-sixth of the economy, or about $3 trillion. U.S. federal tax revenue is roughly one-sixth of the economy, or about $3 trillion. Health care is a complex national cross-subsidy, where, for example, the healthy support the sick. Taxes are a national cross-subsidy, where, for example, workers support retirees. With health care, Americans interact with with an amorphous institution, with a maze of entrenched interests, in which they ultimately just want access to an excellent bundle of services at an affordable price. With the federal government, Americans interact with … okay, I think you get the point.”
“Still, it’s possible to sympathize with the White House’s enthusiasm for tax reform. After a stinging defeat with the American Health Care Act, President Trump and Republicans are looking for an easy win. But they may soon discover that tax reform is the opposite of easy, and impossible to win.”
Washington Post: “Trump is about two weeks away from discovering how complicated tax reform can be.”
For members: Why Tax Reform May Already Be Dead
Unbelievable
Out later this year: Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History by Katy Tur.
American War
This looks great, though depressing: American War by Omar El Akkad.
New York Times: “Set in the closing decades of the 21st century and the opening ones of the 22nd, El Akkad’s novel recounts what happened during the Second American Civil War between the North and South and its catastrophic aftermath. It is a story that extrapolates the deep, partisan divisions that already plague American politics and looks at where those widening splits could lead. A story that maps the palpable consequences for the world of accelerating climate change and an unraveling United States. A story that imagines what might happen if the terrifying realities of today’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — drone strikes, torture, suicide bombers — were to come home to America.”
French Election Looks Very Close
With a month to go in the French presidential election, the RealClearWorld average shows Emmanuel Macron barely leading challenger Marine Le Pen, 25.8% to 25.3%.
Perriello and Gillespie Lead for Virginia Governor
A new Christopher Newport University poll in Virginia finds Tom Perriello (D) and Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) tied at 26% in the Democratic race for governor.
On the Republican side, Ed Gillespie leads with 38%, followed by Corey Stewart at 11% and Frank Wagner at 10%).
White House Tried to Block Sally Yates from Testifying
“The Trump administration sought to block former acting attorney general Sally Yates from testifying to Congress in the House investigation of links between Russian officials and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, the Washington Post has learned, a position that is likely to further anger Democrats who have accused Republicans of trying to damage the inquiry.”
“Yates and other former intelligence officials had been asked to testify before the House Intelligence Committee this week, a hearing that was abruptly canceled by the panel’s chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA).”
Quote of the Day
“This is done because the White House wanted it to be done. And this is what a cover-up to a crime looks like. We are watching it play out right now.”
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), quoted by Politico, on suspicions that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) is coordinating with the White House on the Russia investigation.
Manafort’s Real Estate Transactions Raise Questions
“Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign manager facing multiple investigations for his political and financial ties to Russia, has engaged in a series of puzzling real estate deals in New York City over the past 11 years,” WNYC reports.
“Real estate and law enforcement experts say some of these transactions fit a pattern used in money laundering; together, they raise questions about Manafort’s activities in the New York City property market while he also was consulting for business and political leaders in the former Soviet Union.”
White House Fuels Russia Story
Rick Klein and Shushannah Walshe: “It has come to this: With allegations swirling that rock the foundations of democracy, the White House is being investigated by the FBI, which is controlled by the Trump administration’s own Justice Department, and there’s a congressional committee whose chairman keeps popping up at the White House. This is becoming a crisis of credibility for House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, who maintained that his visit to the White House ‘grounds’ the day before he briefed President Trump was above board and had ‘nothing to do with Russia.'”
“Democrats have now almost universally turned on the California Republican, demanding he be removed from either the investigation or the entire committee. GOP leadership on Capitol Hill seems to be calculating that calls for a special commission or a new committee will blow over. But that won’t happen as long as this news faucet drips. If this bucket needed any more filling, Trump is claiming that the questions the FBI confirmed a week ago that it’s looking into are essentially bogus. ‘Trump Russia story is a hoax,’ the president tweeted late Monday.”
Trump Will Undo Much of Obama’s Climate Legacy
President Trump “will take the most significant step yet in obliterating his predecessor’s environmental record Tuesday, instructing federal regulators to rewrite key rules curbing U.S. carbon emissions,” the Washington Post reports.
“The sweeping executive order also seeks to lift a moratorium on federal coal leasing and remove the requirement that federal officials consider the impact of climate change when making decisions. The order sends an unmistakable signal that just as President Barack Obama sought to weave climate considerations into every aspect of the federal government, Trump is hoping to rip that approach out by its roots.”
A Really Bad Start as President
First Read comments President Trump’s historically dismal approval rating:
“What’s more, George W. Bush never hit 36% in Gallup until 2006 — well after Hurricane Katrina and after the Iraq war had turned south. And Obama never ever dropped to that level over his eight years as president, which included a government shutdown, a debt-ceiling crisis, and a HealthCare.Gov failure. So we’re at Day 68 of Trump’s presidency, and he’s at a dangerously low place.”
“The good news for Trump: He’s got plenty of time to turn things around. The bad news: This early time is typically as good as it gets for a president’s ability to get things through Congress.”
3 Lame Stories About Every New President
Jack Shafer: “Usually up first in their rotation is a breathless beat-sweetener about the incoming vice president. Thanks to his unusual closeness to the boss, chin-stroking reporters and commentators write, the new veep is the most powerful in history.”
“The second inevitable wave of stories claim that the administration is ‘rebooting.’ If it’s true that administrations ‘hit the ground running,’ then it follows that all stumble and fall on their fat asses. By cloaking an administration’s desperate do-overs as reboots, the press provides camouflage for incompetents in power.”
“Monday’s Washington Post brings us, on Page 1 above the fold, the third classic of the first 100 days of reporting: A story about the coming ‘reorganization’ of government—this time by Prince Jared, the president’s son-in-law.”
Schumer Headed for Epic Clash with McConnell
Politico: “At their first sit-down as party leaders in December, Chuck Schumer pledged to tell Mitch McConnell exactly what’s on his mind going forward — no subterfuge or backbiting. ‘You and Harry didn’t get along,’ Schumer recalled saying, referring to his predecessor, Harry Reid. ‘Each of you thought the other was a liar. But I’ve learned in life if people think people are liars, sometimes they misconceive things when they don’t know the whole story.’ Schumer went on: ‘Mitch, I’m from Brooklyn. I will tell you what I think. Sometimes you’ll like it, sometimes you won’t. But I’m not going to try to surprise you.’ Schumer wasn’t kidding about laying it all out in the open.”
“The Democratic leader is now predicting victory over McConnell in two partisan confrontations about to come to a head, over the Supreme Court vacancy and a potential government shutdown. Never mind that the Democratic Party is in its weakest state in more than a decade.”
White House Lawyer Leaked to Nunes?
Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) call for House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) to recuse himself from the Russia investigation “came as panel staffers speculated on the possible identity of Nunes’ White House source, focusing on Michael Ellis, a lawyer who worked for Nunes on the intelligence panel and who was recently hired to work on national security matters at the White House counsel’s office,” Yahoo News reports.
“A White House official and spokesman for Nunes declined to comment on whether Ellis was involved in providing information to Nunes, as did a spokesman for Schiff.”
